Add Color or Dye Trying: DIY Project Transformations with Pigment

Immediately after finishing up my mudcloth project earlier this month, I looked around the house and asked myself, "Hmmmm, now what else can I dye?" There are so many other materials out there in the world, why stop at just fabric? I just want to turn the world into a great big vat of Rit Dye or blackberries and throw everything — furniture, accessories, you name it — in and swirl it around.

Until that happens, here are some ways to alter something you perhaps already own, and inject a little color into your space. Use the right pigment for the material, and the world is your dye bath.

TOP ROW:

Plastic: Here's something I would have never thought to do: dye ordinary plastic switch plates. Using recipes from Rit Dye, you can also color match the paint on your walls. Booom. That was the sound of your mind being blown.

Wood: We've seen the "dipped" look lots, but it's usually done with tape and paint. Wood absorbs color really well, which makes stool feet perfect candidates for a dye job. Martha Stewart did it, and the results are really great.

Bamboo: Martha also dunked some place mats, and instantly transformed inexpensive bamboo into something more personal and fun.

Wicker: And speaking of natural materials, The Andes House makes some beautiful clever color-blocked modular lampshades. You could achieve a similar look with an existing lampshade, like this $39 one from Ikea.

Leather: And then there is always leather. Design Sponge came up with these stained round coasters, and I can see this technique applied to other, larger projects.

BOTTOM ROW:

Cement: Plain concrete projects are everywhere these days, but the Curtis Casa experimented with cement pigment for her planters.